Drums are one of mankind's oldest instruments dating back to at least 5500 BC and have been used for a wide variety of purposes from artistic expression and religious ceremonies to communications and setting cadence for marching armies.
Drums typically consist of a membrane or skin stretched over an open-ended base or shell where the taught skink stretch over the shell is struck with the hand or a stick to produce sound. Some drums have a skin stretched over the bottom of the base as well. Drums come in many shapes and sizes and are made of a variety of materials. For example, drum skins are typically made from animal or synthetic skins and drum shells are typically constructed from wood, metal, fiberglass or synthetic materials. Some drums are sized to be readily carried around the waist or neck so that they can be played while standing or marching. Others have long or elongated bases and may stand on their own so that the drum head is positioned at an appropriate height to be played with the drummer in a seated position. Drums also come in many shapes, including, cylindrical shape (steel drum), goblet or chalice shape (tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, tablah, toumperleki or zerbaghal drums), barrel shape (conga, tumbadora, or kpanlogo drums), and box shape (cajon drum).
The diameter, depth, thickness and shape of the base or shell define the resonance chamber or cavity of the drum which along with the skin thickness and tightness define the overall sound of the drum. Generally, the bigger the drum the louder the sound, so that drums with deep thick shells produce louder sound than drums with shallow thinner shells. As a result many drums can be bulky and large in size making them cumbersome to transport and store.
While most drums are not so large that musicians cannot transport them by car or other means, many are bulky, hard to carry and take up an inordinate amount of space. Although there have been attempts by others to create collapsible drums to address these problems, the known collapsible drums have numerous deficiencies and limitations including reduced sound quality, complex and difficult mechanisms for expansion and contraction of the base, and/or increased number of parts and manufacturing costs.